In heat exchanger operations, hot and cold water will pass through opposite sides of the heat exchanger. In many applications, it may be desirable to adjust the flow rate of the hot water and/or the flow rate of the cold water in order to obtain a desired temperature drop in the hot water. The hot water cycles through a continuous loop as the hot water removes heat from an industrial process (which, in a laboratory setting, may be simulated using an electrical or other suitable hot water heater). The hot water is then cooled by the heat exchanger. The cold water is supplied from a suitable cold water source.
In designing a temperature to flow cascade control loop, it may often be desirable to select a heat exchanger which allows sufficient heat transfer to obtain a desired drop in temperature on the hot water side. Yet, for design purposes, it is known that the actual heat transfer rate must be less than, and perhaps significantly less than, the maximum possible heat transfer rate for a given heat exchanger. By sizing a heat exchanger such that the actual heat transfer is less than the total available heat transfer, the control system can be used to make slight changes in output temperature by making slight changes to control valves/flow rates. Also, for a given temperature drop, the water flow rates need to be high enough that an automatic control valve can be adjusted with enough precision to get the correct output temperature. For example, in some applications it may be very difficult to achieve precise control over the temperature drop as the actual flow rates get lower.
Many commercial heat exchangers are available in a variety of sizes. However, it is often difficult to choose the most appropriate heat exchanger for a given application.